Has Great Eastern Cutlery peaked in popularity?

[SomebodySomewhere]

There are no goalposts being moved, because there isn't a relevant debate happening here. I am having a short back and forth with someone who has essentially admitted that he has no idea how or why GEC does what they do, yet somehow believes that a different business strategy would work better and provide "less risk". Whelp, good luck with all that. LOL

I also didn’t say I have no idea why GEC does it. In fact, I suggested the answer: this is what they know how to do. It’s “traditional.”

What I wondered is if they’re getting paid upfront by distributors or putting it out there on consignment. How they staff. Stuff like that. You know, things you think about when you’re actually in business. If you want to have a hobby, no shame in that, but that wasn’t what I was responding to.

 

[Quiet]

I also didn’t say I have no idea why GEC does it. In fact, I suggested the answer: this is what they know how to do. It’s “traditional.”

What I wondered is if they’re getting paid upfront by distributors or putting it out there on consignment. How they staff. Stuff like that. You know, things you think about when you’re actually in business. If you want to have a hobby, no shame in that, but that wasn’t what I was responding to.

Bill Howard at GEC has almost certainly forgotten more about being "actually in business" than it's likely you'll ever know.

 

[Danke42]

I also didn’t say I have no idea why GEC does it. In fact, I suggested the answer: this is what they know how to do. It’s “traditional.”

What I wondered is if they’re getting paid upfront by distributors or putting it out there on consignment. How they staff. Stuff like that. You know, things you think about when you’re actually in business. If you want to have a hobby, no shame in that, but that wasn’t what I was responding to.

Spoiler Alert. We all know how GEC sells and makes stuff. They're very transparent and there are members here that have a deep connection to the company. That's how those those special Blade Forums GECs manifest themselves.

Any of the Business 101 suggestions about how GEC can make more knives so some clown can get the one they're missing are contrary to their ethos and diminish their brand.

So it would be stupid for them to do that.

 

[SomebodySomewhere]

Spoiler Alert. We all know how GEC sells and makes stuff. They're very transparent and there are members here that have a deep connection to the company. That's how those those special Blade Forums GECs manifest themselves.

Any of the Business 101 suggestions about how GEC can make more knives so some clown can get the one they're missing are contrary to their ethos and diminish their brand.

So it would be stupid for them to do that.

Who’s screening these people? How are our knives getting into the hands of clowns?

 

[Quiet]

Spoiler Alert. We all know how GEC sells and makes stuff. They're very transparent and there are members here that have a deep connection to the company. That's how those those special Blade Forums GECs manifest themselves.

Any of the Business 101 suggestions about how GEC can make more knives so some clown can get the one they're missing are contrary to their ethos and diminish their brand.

So it would be stupid for them to do that.

Heh. was it this thread or one of the (many) others where someone was like "Why not just outsource some or all of their production, surely that will make it easier to get GECs in the future and keep costs down!"? Like, tell us you don't know anything about GEC, its history, or what makes them special, without telling us you don't know anything about GEC, its history, or what makes them special.

 

[Danke42]

Heh. was it this thread or one of the (many) others where someone was like "Why not just outsource some or all of their production, surely that will make it easier to get GECs in the future and keep costs down!"? Like, tell us you don't know anything about GEC, its history, or what makes them special, without telling us you don't know anything about GEC, its history, or what makes them special.

Some people can't get over missing out on glitter gold acrylic.

 

[Danke42]

Who’s screening these people? How are our knives getting into the hands of clowns?

 

[Jiki]

All of these "experts" on here to "fix" a problem that GEC does not see as a problem.

 

[EngrSorenson]

It's frustrating for the GEC collecting game, but Bill Howard's mastered his business model.
GECs keep people coming back for more, and they'll spend more.
They'll gripe, but they'll spend it.

True fans of the brand will save their dollars on other things like going out to eat or having children and just buy up every GEC they find.

 

[Danke42]

It's frustrating for the GEC collecting game, but Bill Howard's mastered his business model.
GECs keep people coming back for more, and they'll spend more.
They'll gripe, but they'll spend it.

True fans of the brand will save their dollars on other things like going out to eat or having children and just buy up every GEC they find.

I think they should switch to one of each version only to normalize the scarcity across the board.

 

[SomebodySomewhere]

It's frustrating for the GEC collecting game, but Bill Howard's mastered his business model.
GECs keep people coming back for more, and they'll spend more.
They'll gripe, but they'll spend it.

True fans of the brand will save their dollars on other things like going out to eat or having children and just buy up every GEC they find.

Part of the appeal of the brand for me had been that they were old-style knives you could actually use. But I think we’ve established pretty clearly that I’m not the target audience here.

 

[EngrSorenson]

Part of the appeal of the brand for me had been that they were old-style knives you could actually use. But I think we’ve established pretty clearly that I’m not the target audience here.

Seems like it. I’m not talking about you though.

I hear rough ryders are nice though!

 

[Jiki]

It's frustrating for the GEC collecting game, but Bill Howard's mastered his business model.
GECs keep people coming back for more, and they'll spend more.
They'll gripe, but they'll spend it.

True fans of the brand will save their dollars on other things like going out to eat or having children and just buy up every GEC they find.

I could stop tomorrow. (He types with a trembling hand)

 

[SomebodySomewhere]

I hear rough ryders are nice though!

I’ve definitely heard plenty of people say they’re at least a match for the quality. They won’t have that certain indescribable magic, of course, but I’ll probably learn to live with it. Maybe by going out to dinner a couple of times with the extra money.

 

[Danke42]

Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains."

 

[EngrSorenson]

I’ve definitely heard plenty of people say they’re at least a match for the quality. They won’t have that certain indescribable magic, of course, but I’ll probably learn to live with it. Maybe by going out to dinner a couple of times with the extra money.

Yeah, they’re not that nice. But the prices are quantity are right up your alley.

 

[dirc]

anyway, I get it, ramping up gec production isn't as easy as a rock band adding additional nights to meet all the demand...

they can't just hire more people, or get more infrastructure to meet the demand - so it's very much a case of actual 'scarcity'
at the very least they could allow for individual orders and a limit of 1 or 2 prepaid orders to each address for each batch, and even implement a waiting list or something

I'd gladly prepay for a decent gec at msrp, even years in advance ... I'm guessing most bf members would also love this

...
the current setup of actually trying to get a gec at msrp has resulted in my abandonment of the entire process - it's a nonstarter for me as it currently is (and I imagine many other would-be customers)

 

[Quiet]

I’ve definitely heard plenty of people say they’re at least a match for the quality. They won’t have that certain indescribable magic, of course, but I’ll probably learn to live with it. Maybe by going out to dinner a couple of times with the extra money.

100% of the people saying this are attempting to talk themselves into believing that. Don't believe it.

 

[EngrSorenson]

100% of the people saying this are attempting to talk themselves into believing that. Don't believe it.

Even the more pricey Rough Ryder Reserve is pretty hot garbage, if not in quality, in design.

 

[DustinK]

Why do people who can’t land knife drops come up with the dumbest ideas to “fix” businesses that are being very successful with their current business models?